Why I Am a Mormon

This is an attempt (in four installments) to explain a few things about what might be called my spiritual autobiography. I have felt compelled to write something like this for some time, but I haven’t always known how to write about such a personal subject for a wide diversity of friends for whom I have great love and respect let alone for unknown readers. My intent is not necessarily to persuade but to share what it feels like to be inside of my belief a little bit. I always felt that this was the primary purpose in writing Home Waters. My main objective was to provide a chance for a reader to inhabit, however briefly and insufficiently, the mind and heart of a person who loves his religion and loves his landscape. I guess the reason I feel this motivation is a persistent and nagging feeling that faith in general and my faith in particular are so little understood in our culture today. And a similarly nagging feeling that I will have dishonored my experiences by remaining reticent.